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Tag Archives | Turkish pastries

Turkish Shortbread Cookies with Pistachio – Fistikli Un Kurabiyesi

Turkish shortbread cookies with pistachio, Fistikli Un Kurabiyesi from SEBZE cookery book

This delicious, crumbly shortbread cookies, un kurabiyesi, is a national favouite; my mother would make them for her afternoon tea gatherings, bayrams and special occasions when I was a child. You will find them in our pastanes, patisseries in plain, with almond or sometimes with dried fruits in Turkey. They are delicious, enjoyed with Turkish coffee, Turk kahvesi and tea, cay.

I added coarsely ground (or very finely chopped) pistachios to mine – it is nice to feel the texture and enjoy the taste of pistachios, so take care not to ground them too finely. Turkish pistachios, as referred as green emeralds are packed with flavour and we use nuts liberally in our desserts and sweet treats. They add a delicious, fragrant nutty taste. You can use ground almonds or hazelnuts instead of pistachio too. These fistikli un kurabiyesi is a great hit with my family and friends; I hope you enjoy them as much as we do. This recipe is from my new book, SEBZE, Vegetarian recipes from my Turkish kitchen, along with 80 other delicious, easy to make Turkish recipes. You can order a copy of SEBZE here, delivered worldwide.

Afiyet Olsun,

Ozlem

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Spinach and cheese filled filo pastry triangles; Muska Boregi

Spinach and feta cheese filo triangles, Muska Boregi

Spinach and feta cheese filo triangles, Muska Boregi

We recently made these delicious cheese & spinach filo triangles, muska  boregi as we call in Turkish, at my recent Turkish cookery class. They were a huge hit and participants pleasantly surprised how easy & delicious they were. Indeed, these scrumptious triangles are a winner from children to adults. They are actually easier than you think; here are step by step visual instructions to make the stuffed filo triangles:

 

Fold the end of the strip over the filling diagonally so that it forms a triangle

Fold the end of the strip over the filling diagonally so that it forms a triangle

 Continue folding the strip in triangles until you get a small, triangular stuffed pastry

Continue folding the strip in triangles until you get a small, triangular stuffed pastry

 Seal the pastry all around with the water then brush them with egg&olive oil mixture

Boreks, stuffed pastries are hugely popular in Turkish cuisine; we Turks love them for breakfast  as an appetizer or a mid-day snack; there really is not a bad time for a borek! Yufka, the wonderful thin sheets of fresh pastry is used traditionally to make boreks at home, though they are hard to find (and not as good) abroad. (If you can get fresh yufka especially in Turkey, you can use only one sheet at a time, as yufka is more moist  and manageable. You may just want to keep your yufka stripes a little longer). I use the filo pastry sheets for this recipe and it works well. If frozen, you need to defrost the filo sheets overnight in the fridge and or leave at room temperature 2 hour before using. If you are using the fresh filo sheets kept in the fridge as in the supermarkets in the UK, you need to leave them at room temperature for 30 minutes before using. As for the cheese filling, if you can get the delicious, moist Turkish white cheese, beyaz peynir, that is a perfect fit here; I love Pinar Foods UK‘s white cheese, beyaz peynir.  I find feta drier than the Turkish equivalent. Therefore, I add a little grated mozzarella to bring some creaminess and balance the flavors, especially if feta is used.

Shepherd's Salad with tangy sumac, delicious & refreshing

Here’s also my YouTube video for these delicious filo triangles:

The trick with filo sheets is that they can dry out very quickly; if you keep the sheets under a slightly damp towel that helps to manage filo greatly. I hope you enjoy these delicious triangles; why not serving these delicious triangles with the refreshing Shepherd’s Salad with Sumac? They complement each other very well.

There are over 90 wholesome, easy, delicious Turkish recipes at my blog here as well as at my cookery book, Ozlem’s Turkish Table  to inspire you. Signed hardback copies of Ozlem’s Turkish Table are now 25 % Off at this link and delivered worldwide including the US.

I am also delighted to share with you that we also designed this special Ozlem’s Turkish Table apron, just in time for the holiday gift giving season. It is special to my heart, as it is made in Turkey, with my hometown Antakya’s celebrated daphne leaves in the hand embroidered design – this lovely apron would make a wonderful gift for the festive season, you can get yours at this link. Delivered worldwide including the US. We also have a special offer for Ozlem’s Turkish Table readers;  for a limited time, to  you can get a  signed copy of Ozlem’s Turkish Table cookery book bundled with this apron at a special price of £27.99. This special offer ends on 21th November 2020 (including), if you like to get yours here is the link. Delivered worldwide including the US.

Spinach & feta filled filo triangles, Muska Boregi

Spinach & feta filled filo triangles, Muska Boregi

Afiyet Olsun,

Ozlem

5.0 from 5 reviews
Spinach and cheese filled filo pastry triangles; Muska Boregi
 
These popular Turkish savory pastries, Muska Boregi or Spinach and Cheese Filo Triangles, are delicious and easy; a real crowd pleaser. I hope you enjoy them, Afiyet Olsun!
Author:
Recipe type: Turkish Savory Pastries, Borek
Serves: 6-8
Ingredients
  • 150 gr / 7 oz spinach leaves
  • 150 gr/ 7 oz feta cheese, mashed with a fork
  • 100 gr / app. 4 oz shredded mozzarella
  • 3 eggs, beaten
  • 3 tablespoons mild olive oil
  • Bowl of 8 fl. oz/ 1 cup water to seal the pastry
  • 12 sheets of filo pastry (each sheet 48cmx25cm)
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 180c/350 F/gas mark 4
  2. Remove the stalks of the spinach, wash and chop roughly.
  3. Mix together in a bowl with the feta cheese, 1 tablespoon olive oil, shredded mozzarella and two of the beaten eggs; the filling is ready.
  4. In a separate bowl, mix 1 egg and 2 tablespoons olive oil.
  5. Grease a rectangular baking dish with a little olive oil.
  6. Lay the pastry sheets on a clean surface and cut into 10cmx25cm stripes.
  7. Stack the stripes on top of another and cover with a damp towel so that they won’t dry out.
  8. Keep a bowl of water near you.
  9. Lay two stripes of filo sheets at top of one another.
  10. Place 1 tablespoon of the spinach mixture at one end of the filo pastry strip.
  11. Fold the end of the strip over the filling diagonally so that it forms a triangle.
  12. Continue folding the strip in triangles until you get a small, triangular stuffed pastry.
  13. Seal the pastry all around with the water; water really helps to keep filo sheets intact here. Repeat with remaining filo until you have used all of the filling.
  14. Place the stuffed triangle pastries on the greased baking dish and brush them with the egg & olive oil mixture.
  15. Bake the triangles in the oven for about 20 – 25 minutes, until they are is golden brown. Serve hot as an appetizer or as part of a mezze spread.This dish can be successfully reheated.
Notes
1) If you would like to cut back on the amount of the eggs, you can decrease them in the spinach and feta filling. 2) This filo triangles freeze wonderfully. Once cooled, put them in a freezer bag and seal. When you’d like to reheat (at 180 C/ 350 F for about 15 minutes), put them in a greased baking tray and sprinkle the top with a little milk and water mixture to give some moisture
 

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Cheese and Potato filled filo rolls; Peynirli, Patatesli Borek

Filo rolls with feta and potato, peynirli, patatesli borek

Filo rolls with feta and potato, peynirli, patatesli borek


It is thought that the Ottoman Palace kitchens devised these tasty treats in order to tempt the precious little princes. The cigar shaped version with cheese and herb mixture is very popular at home for a snack, appetizer or as part of the Turkish breakfast. I had some left over cooked potato and added to the cheese and parsley mixture, the result was delicious – they disappeared very quickly, very popular with children as well as adults. Worth giving a go!

As with most savory Turkish filled pastries, this borek freeze very well once cooked too.

Serves 4 – 6
Preparation time: 20 minutes Cooking time: 25 minutes

260 gr / 9 oz phyllo (filo) pastry sheets, thawed
110 gr / 4 oz potato, cooked
100 gr/ 3 1/2 oz feta cheese, crumbled
100 gr/ 3 1/2 oz shredded mozzarella
2 eggs (one for the filling, one for brushing the boreks)
1 bunch / 1/2 cup chopped flat leaf (Italian) parsley
Salt and pepper to taste
15 ml / 1 tablespoon olive oil
15 ml / 1 tablespoon whole milk
Nigella and sesame seeds to decorate the boreks (before baking)

Bowl of water to seal the filo rolls

Preheat oven to 180 C / 350 F / Gas 4

Mash together the cheese (feta and mozzarella), 1 egg, cooked potato, parsley and the milk to form a smooth paste. Season with salt and pepper. However, if the feta cheese is already salty, you may wish not to add salt.

Lay the filo sheets in front of you and cut to form elongated rectangles. Keep the pastry covered with a damp cloth as you are working. This will help to avoid it getting too dry or less manageable.

Lay one strip of filo and place a tablespoon of the filling along one of the short ends (take care not to overfill as the filling may ooze out while cooking). Fold over the pastry from each side to seal in the mixture and then roll up like a cigar. Wet the end with water to seal. Continue, keeping the finished ones covered with a damp cloth as you work. Refrigerate until required.

Mix the olive oil and the other egg in a bowl. Grease the tray with a little olive oil. Brush the pastries with olive oil and egg mixture. Sprinkle nigella and sesame seeds over the pastries and bake until they are golden brown, about 25 minutes.

Serve hot as part of a meze spread.

Afiyet Olsun,

Ozlem

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